Queen of His Heart
by darkangel10
Summary: Can a friendly game of poker lead to more for Harry and Hermione?


Queen of His Heart

Hermione Granger sat on her bed shuffling a set of playing cards with considerable skill. The boy across from her leaned back and scratched the faint shadow of dark stubble that had manifested itself on his chin. The tension in the room was palpable. Harry Potter watched his best friend's nimble fingers move the cards around with some fascination.

"Tell me Hermione, coz I'm curious…How the hell did you become such a card shark?"

"Well my Uncle Vince works for this casino and he taught me the tricks of the trade." Hermione replied nonchalantly.

"Mmm…riiight," Harry scoffed sarcastically

"Okay fine. The cards help me with Arithmancy…you know, numbers, probability…" said Hermione, caving in.

"That's more like it," Harry laughed. She gave him a fake annoyed look before laughing as well.

Their weekly poker nights had become a new tradition for the two of them. Harry had yet to win a round against Hermione. After Hogwarts and the defeat of Voldemort, the two of them had decided to further their educations at Godric University in London. Ron had gotten a lucrative Keeper contract with the Cannons and hoped to help restore the team to their former glory. Harry and Hermione were living in the same residential college, just a few doors down from each other. This resulted in frequent sleepovers and a stronger friendship.

Hermione began to deal out the cards. Five for her and five for Harry. Harry sat up straight and took hold of his cards.

"So poker huh?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"That's the name of the game," Hermione replied with a smile.

Harry looked into her eyes and tried to see if he could decipher the hand she was holding. Hrm…Nothing. Damn she was good. His own hand wasn't too bad. A pair of black Queens, two red face cards and a 6 of diamonds. He took the number card and laid it face down on the bed before taking one from the deck. The only sounds in the room were the quiet shuffling of the cards as they moved across one another. He looked at his newly acquired card. Queen of Hearts. How appropriate. Sitting across from him was his very own Queen of Hearts. The Queen of his Heart. He tried to make his face as neutral as possible.

Hermione looked at him coyly through her eyelashes, her own cards held close to her chest. She swapped a card from her hand with one from the deck. She looked at her card, her face betraying nothing. The atmosphere in the room was almost crackling with electricity.

"So…what exactly are we playing for Mr. Potter?" Hermione asked, breaking the silence.

Harry looked at her for a moment, as if weighing up his answer. Then he gave her a sweet smile and replied:

"Your heart,"

The corners of her mouth curled upwards slightly to form a shy smile and a faint crimson blush crept upon her cheeks. Harry had never seen anything so beautiful.

"So what have you got?" Hermione asked him, her voice just a whisper.

Harry laid down his hand of two black Queens and 3 red face cards, including of course, the Queen of Hearts.

"Not bad huh?"

He leaned back and looked at her smugly, thinking he had finally gotten one over Hermione. He motioned towards her own set of cards.

"I fold," was all she said before crawling over to where he was and placing a soft kiss on his lips. He was slightly taken aback at her forwardness, but soon got over it, wrapping his arms around her as the kiss deepened. The cards lay forgotten and scattered around them. Harry broke the kiss and looked at her impishly.

"I think we should record this blessed event, as the first time I, Harry James Potter, have ever beaten you in a game of poker,"

Hermione looked at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"What?"

"I had four aces and the King of Spades," she replied lightly as he looked at her with his mouth open.

"But you folded. Why the hell would you fold if you had a hand like that?"

She cocked her head at him, almost disbelieving his cluelessness.

"What if I wanted to lose?"

He looked at her, finally cottoning on. He chuckled but was silenced by another kiss from Hermione. When they broke apart again, Harry looked at her and smiled.

"Even though I won but not really…Do I still win the prize?"

"Harry, you can't win what you already have,"

THE END

A/N: What did you think? Review review review! Thanks guys…u all rock!


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